Two Dollars a Day

Zeppo said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

Quoted message said:

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

Quoted message said:

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

Quoted message said:

thanks,

Quoted message said:

b.
misanthropia dot com

Get familiar with your local markets and what they do with food that is
getting too ripe to sell or too close to the expiration date. Markets in my
area discount these heavily. If you just buy the veggies and fruit you will
use that day or buy meat and freeze what you don't use you can save quite a
bit of money.

I've been told that Asian super markets have great prices on fish and
produce. I live smack in the middle of Little Koreatnam and am
surrounded by such markets, I've just been too self conscious to go in
one 🙂

I'll try to put aside my discomort and check one out.

b.

Quoted message said:

Jon

Quoted message said:

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

thanks,

b.
misanthropia dot com

I know you've already mentioned eggs, but I'm going to repeat. I can
get large eggs at a local kind-of ethnic market for about .79/doz
(U.S.), and jumbo are a little over a dollar/doz. That sure seems
like cheap protein to me. It might not help your cholesterol, but it
sure seems cheaper than beef. Fried eggs over a bed of your home-
grown chard or spinach with a little salsa or cheese on top is a great
meal. Omelets can take a multitude of left-over fillings. Hard
boiled can be chopped up and put in soups or ramen. Or you can do an
egg drop style.

Also, if you cook your meat, any meat, and then cut it into little
pieces, half inch or smaller, and mix it with your veggies and rice or
soup or whatever, you'll be surprised how far you can stretch the most
expensive part of your meal. If you just get a small piece of meat in
most mouthfuls, you trick yourself into thinking you ate a big chunk
of meat.

And buy in bulk if you can. I buy my bulk oatmeal from the local co-
op for about .65/pound versus probably $2/pound in a cardboard tube at
the supermarket.

If this is a long term plan, and you have a lot of room in a garden,
I'd go for winter squash such as sugar pumpkins or butternut squash.
They're not cheap in the store and they can last forever. Well, for
many months anyway. If you don't have much room, herbs are a good
thing because they're expensive in the store and they can dress-up
inexpensive things and make them taste expensive.

HTH,

Ken

kilikini said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some
help coming up with more menu items.

We're always on a really tight budget, so I've learned some tricks to
get us by when we're in a serious pinch.

1. Homemade soups. For instance, bean soup is probably one of the
cheapest. It may cost more than $2.00 initially, but you get a week's
worth and you can always freeze some.
2. Frozen, non-breaded, fish filets - I get mine at a place called
Sav-a-Lot. For about $3.50 I get 5 frozen pollock fillets. Yes, it
comes to about $.70 a fillet, which is about 65% of your daily
allowance, but if you eat ramen for lunch ($.15), 2 eggs for
breakfast ($.40) that allows you about $.75 cents of veggies to go
with the fish for dinner. And, if you haven't finished all the ramen
(I never do), you can stir-fry the veggies and place them on the bed
of left-over ramen.
3. Buy off-brand canned goods at surplus stores like Dollar General.
The sell-by-date is usually expired, but that's not important for
canned goods. Spaghetti sauce can be had for under $1.00 and again,
you can get at least 3 - 4 meals out of a jar. These kind of places
are also good for cheap, dried pasta.
4. You mentioned rice. Fried rice is cheap and it's a great way to
use up any veggies. I make a batch and it lasts me all week. What I
don't end up eating (because I can never eat it all), I end up
feeding to my pet rats. They love it, too!
5. It's summer - think tuna salad. Go to the Dollar store to get
your tuna, pasta, mayo and whatever else you want to add. That's
another one that lasts me a week.
6. Casseroles. Filling, cheap and they go a long way. A casserole
can be as simple as frozen broccoli and mushroom soup (or broccoli
cheese soup), baked, with breadcrumbs on the top. Again, if you go
to the Dollar store, you can get frozen broccoli and canned mushroom
soup for cheap.

I could write a book on this and to all the foodies out there, yes, I
know most of this is processed food. I like to eat as fresh and
healthy as I can, but sometimes you have to cut corners.

Anyway, I hope this helped!

Wow kili, you really know your stuff!! You could write a book yaknow???

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cheap chicken.

At an average of $.79 per lb. one chicken can easily feed me for 3 days
with sides.

I have seen whole chickens on the cheap on sale at the local market,
but not the last few forrays through. I figure any meat has got to be
$1 per pound or less to be feasible. I'd be willing to go a little
higher on chicken simply because I can get so much out of it.

Quoted message said:

Beans
Rice
Corn Tortillas
Ramen noodles
Other pastas

Ah, tortillas. Great idea! thanks.

b.

Glad to be of help. ;-)

If whole chicken is expensive where you are, look for the hindquarters.
They fluctuate here in price, but can often be found for $.49 to $.69
per lb. in 10 lb. bags.

Don't underestimate fresh produce! A lot of it is coming into season
right now making it cheaper than meat and of great health benefit. I'm
of the belief that you need meat in your diet, but fresh veggies are
good for both flavor and nutrition.

I got Roma tomatoes yesterday for $.89 per lb. and summer squash is even
lower.

Celery and lettuce is good and I paid $.49 per HEAD for cabbages!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

I run a food pantry, so I'm always on the lookout for bargains. If I go
to my market (Shaw's) early in the morning I can find meats greatly
reduced. Last week I bought 30 1 pound packages of bacon at 49 cents a
pound. They were originally $3.49 but each had a $3 off sticker. I put
them in the freezer immediately. Bacon is a treat for my clients. I
also always find $2 off stickers on the Healthy Choice cold cuts that
are usually $2.79 each, and with the stickers, I get cube steak for 69
cents or 79 cents each. Yesterday I bought 1 pound blocks of cheddar
for 99 cents each. My store also sells "ends" of meat and cheese for
next to nothing.

My friends always say they never find bargains like this, but I usually
just take them by the hand and show them where the store places the
marked down items. The bargains are usually out there, you just have to
know where to look.

Actually, Shaw's is the most expensive store in my area, but they have
great mark downs and it enables me to provide a lot more food to my
clients besides the typical canned goods. We also supply milk, eggs,
cheese, margarine, cold cuts, and cleaning products to each family that
comes in.

If things are truly meager for you right now, maybe you should find a
local food pantry for help. You would need to show ID and proof of
financial need. You don't need to be totally destitute to qualify for
aid, just willing to ask for help. My food pantry doesn't pre-bag
anything, our clients can shop for whatever they want, less waste that
way.

Denise in NH

Quoted message said:

Zeppo said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

thanks,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

b.
misanthropia dot com

Quoted message said:

Get familiar with your local markets and what they do with food that is
getting too ripe to sell or too close to the expiration date. Markets in my
area discount these heavily. If you just buy the veggies and fruit you will
use that day or buy meat and freeze what you don't use you can save quite a
bit of money.

I've been told that Asian super markets have great prices on fish and
produce. I live smack in the middle of Little Koreatnam and am
surrounded by such markets, I've just been too self conscious to go in
one 🙂

I'll try to put aside my discomort and check one out.

b.

Yes, put it aside. Everytime I go to any ethnic market, when I ask a
customer what they will be doing with an ingredient they are picking
up, I get a quite pleasant lesson in cooking that ingredient. This
goes for ANY ethnic person I've ever approached.

Funny thing, one of the last times I did this I was in a big Asian/
Hispanic supermarket of which there are a few around here in
Virginia. The woman I was talking to entered her husband and mother
into the discussion. When I went to the next store on my list of
places to go, there they were, at an Indian store. (They were Indian,
they said, but I would not have known it from the previous discussion/
store event.)

Dee Dee

Ophelia said:

kilikini said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some
help coming up with more menu items.

We're always on a really tight budget, so I've learned some tricks to
get us by when we're in a serious pinch.

1. Homemade soups. For instance, bean soup is probably one of the
cheapest. It may cost more than $2.00 initially, but you get a week's
worth and you can always freeze some.
2. Frozen, non-breaded, fish filets - I get mine at a place called
Sav-a-Lot. For about $3.50 I get 5 frozen pollock fillets. Yes, it
comes to about $.70 a fillet, which is about 65% of your daily
allowance, but if you eat ramen for lunch ($.15), 2 eggs for
breakfast ($.40) that allows you about $.75 cents of veggies to go
with the fish for dinner. And, if you haven't finished all the ramen
(I never do), you can stir-fry the veggies and place them on the bed
of left-over ramen.
3. Buy off-brand canned goods at surplus stores like Dollar General.
The sell-by-date is usually expired, but that's not important for
canned goods. Spaghetti sauce can be had for under $1.00 and again,
you can get at least 3 - 4 meals out of a jar. These kind of places
are also good for cheap, dried pasta.
4. You mentioned rice. Fried rice is cheap and it's a great way to
use up any veggies. I make a batch and it lasts me all week. What I
don't end up eating (because I can never eat it all), I end up
feeding to my pet rats. They love it, too!
5. It's summer - think tuna salad. Go to the Dollar store to get
your tuna, pasta, mayo and whatever else you want to add. That's
another one that lasts me a week.
6. Casseroles. Filling, cheap and they go a long way. A casserole
can be as simple as frozen broccoli and mushroom soup (or broccoli
cheese soup), baked, with breadcrumbs on the top. Again, if you go
to the Dollar store, you can get frozen broccoli and canned mushroom
soup for cheap.

I could write a book on this and to all the foodies out there, yes, I
know most of this is processed food. I like to eat as fresh and
healthy as I can, but sometimes you have to cut corners.

Anyway, I hope this helped!

Wow kili, you really know your stuff!! You could write a book
yaknow???

LOL, I've been poor for WAY too long, I think! :~)

kili

Quoted message said:

I've been told that Asian super markets have great prices on fish and
produce. I live smack in the middle of Little Koreatnam and am
surrounded by such markets, I've just been too self conscious to go in
one 🙂

I'll try to put aside my discomort and check one out.

b.

Quoted message said:

Jon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was recently turned on to a great Asian grocery store. They seem to
have much better meats and produce, and lots of stuff I have no idea
about! Check one out!

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some help
coming up with more menu items.

Checking prices at the supermarket, I've come up with a list of some
food stuffs I can afford:

*Veggies - potatoes, carrots, onions (not much else looks affordable
on my self imposed budget)
*Fruit - bananas, melons (also, lemons and oranges from trees in the
yard, though I don't think many, if any, oranges will be available)
*Grains, beans, pasta - rice, beans (red, garbanzo, pinto), peas,
lentils, barley, pasta
*Meat - Not much looks particularly affordable. I may be able to
squeeze some chicken in, maybe even some ground beef, and I plan on
splurging on a pound of bacon.
*Dairy - no milk, cheese, or butter. But margarine is surprisingly
cheap. Eggs, or course.

I have an ample supply of herbs, spices, oils, vinegar, soy sauce, and
some rather esoteric condiments (fish sauce, black bean and garlic
sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce).

While you will probably get bored from eating leftovers, beans and rice
in their myriad combinations are going to be your cheapest good protein.
When cooked in their multi-ethnic splendor with added vegetables,
onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, they're good food. Served with
cornbread, darn, I'd come over to eat. Can't think of anything to use
fish sauce with!

In summer with farmer's markets and all, I should think you could get
vegetables, and lucky you to have a yard full of citrus!

Where I live a housewife will often use a single tomato from a can and
keep the rest. In season a fresh one takes its place. Cooked pasta,
with 3 ounces of tuna, a few frozen peas thrown in with the pasta at the
end of cooking, and a single diced tomato-- cannot tell you how many
times I've been served that. It isn't a favorite, but it's good and
very cheap.

I understand the yen for bacon, but I should think nutrition would come
first.

Portion control will play a part, too. I salute your effort, really.
More people should get acquainted with how hard life is for a lot of
people.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Michael 'Dog3' Lonergan said:

"kilikini" <[email hidden]> dropped this turd
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

I could write a book on this and to all the foodies out there, yes, I
know most of this is processed food. I like to eat as fresh and
healthy as I can, but sometimes you have to cut corners.

Anyway, I hope this helped!

kili

Why don't you write a book? Say, the month of August go on a $2 a day
budget and really stick to it. No fudging and journal everything.
Viola... you got a book.

Michael

I'm toying around with the idea of writing a book involving "on the road
food". Many times when we travel we don't stay in a place with a kitchen
but a mini-fridge and microwave are a must. We take along a small portable
grill, a hot plate and basic cooking utensils. I've come up with some
pretty creative meals considering the limited cooking facilities 🙂

Jill

kilikini said:

Quoted message said:

Wow kili, you really know your stuff!! You could write a book
yaknow???

LOL, I've been poor for WAY too long, I think! :~)

Time for you to think about it!!!

Heck I would buy it🙂))

jmcquown said:

Quoted message said:

Michael 'Dog3' Lonergan said:

"kilikini" <[email hidden]> dropped this turd
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

>
> I could write a book on this and to all the foodies out there,
> yes, I know most of this is processed food. I like to eat as
> fresh and healthy as I can, but sometimes you have to cut corners.
>
> Anyway, I hope this helped!
>
> kili

Why don't you write a book? Say, the month of August go on a $2 a
day budget and really stick to it. No fudging and journal
everything. Viola... you got a book.

Michael

I'm toying around with the idea of writing a book involving "on the
road food". Many times when we travel we don't stay in a place with
a kitchen but a mini-fridge and microwave are a must. We take along
a small portable grill, a hot plate and basic cooking utensils.
I've come up with some pretty creative meals considering the limited
cooking facilities 🙂

That is how we are eating for the next 8 weeks. Few plugs and 1 microwave.
Very little counter space. We do have a full size fridge though. Keeps the
grey cells awake in the heat. :-) I brought an electic fry pan, a
quesedilla maker, a panini grill, an electric kettle and an electric can
opener and 2 Betty Crocker hot pots. The other night I had the fry pan going
on the little bit of counter space I had, the rice cooker on the little
table, and a hot pot on the bathroom shelf all going.

Debbie

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Jill

--

Debbie

(Email account is valid but one I do not check. To email use above
name dot neill at sympatico dot ca)

Staples and labor.

Get a bag of flour and bake your own bread, noodles,
biscuits, etc. Rice is almost free, too. Ignore the
Atkins cultists. Starches are good for you if you eat
protein and fiber.

Eat the least expensive protein you can find.
Probably deep-discount whole chicken. Look for
reduced-for-quick-sale items. The local Fry's (Kroger)
has chicken on buy-one-get-one-free, and at least one of
the offerings (probably the legs or the whole fryers) is
$1.49/lb, so that's .75/lb right there. The only thing
is a bone-in chicken is only 60-70% meat.

Depending on where you are, some fresh veggies work out to
dirt cheap and filling. It's corn season, so the local
Safeway has 10 ears for $2. Half an ear is plenty for a
meal with meat and a starch.

Check out your local markets' websites. They all have
online copies of their weekly sale flyers. That will
help you target your excursions. I scan them every week
for deals on canned sodas. I never pay more than $3 per
12-pack (25 cents per can). It's a matter of principle.

--Blair

Quoted message said:

I've been told that Asian super markets have great prices on fish and
produce. I live smack in the middle of Little Koreatnam and am
surrounded by such markets, I've just been too self conscious to go in
one 🙂

You've been missing out.

Quoted message said:

I'll try to put aside my discomort and check one out.

You're going to become a junkie!

--Blair

merryb said:

I was recently turned on to a great Asian grocery store. They seem to
have much better meats and produce, and lots of stuff I have no idea
about! Check one out!

The best:

http://bestof.phoenixnewtimes.com/bestof/award.php?award=196950

This is where I get eye round for under $3/lb. Fresh,
whole trout for $2.99/lb. Shrimp-flavored chips.
Huge shallots for under $2/lb. Sliced, frozen lamb leg
meat (for making lamb cheesesteaks, of course). Bok choi,
Kai choi, and a few other choices of chois. 30? 50? kinds
of tofu. String beans as long as your arm. Grapefruit
the size of your head. Mint leaves by the handful.
Sprouts by the barrel. Baby bananas, burro bananas,
banana bananas. ***Durian***. Roast duck. Anything in
the fish (or meat?) case cleaned and fried while you wait.
Live blue crabs. Live dungies. Live catfish and tilapia
and lobsters.

--Blair
"(drools and plans)"

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:50:56 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

snippady doo daw

Quoted message said:

I've been told that Asian super markets have great prices on fish and
produce. I live smack in the middle of Little Koreatnam and am
surrounded by such markets, I've just been too self conscious to go in
one 🙂

I'll try to put aside my discomort and check one out.

b.

I hope you try them out, their produce is waaay cheaper than the
regular supermarkets.
I have always had pleasant experiences in ethnic grocery stores.
It has been my experience that people are genuinely happy to help.
Watch out though, your shopping trip will take longer because you will
strike up some interesting conversations with some interesting people.
I think I need to try and eat on two dollars a day also. I haven't
been real good about putting away money for the New Mexico cookin'

Good Luck.

Koko

Ken said:

Quoted message said:

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

thanks,

b.
misanthropia dot com

I know you've already mentioned eggs, but I'm going to repeat. I can
get large eggs at a local kind-of ethnic market for about .79/doz
(U.S.), and jumbo are a little over a dollar/doz. That sure seems
like cheap protein to me. It might not help your cholesterol, but it

You can eat cholesterol if you're exercising consistently.
Cholesterol is consumed by muscular activity. That's why it
exists.

Quoted message said:

sure seems cheaper than beef.

Let's do a little math with some help from calorieking.com:

protein/carb/fat content:

1 large egg, 1.8 oz, 6.3/0.6/5.3
eye round, 1.8 oz, 15/ 0 /2.1
chicken breast, 1.8 oz, 16/ 0 /1.8
chicken leg, 1.8 oz, 13.8/ 0 /4.3

The chicken is boneless, which isn't the cheapest option.
But let's assume you can get 50% meat from a chicken,
so the meat itself is more like $1.50/lb. Average the
white and dark meat (no skin) to get about 15g/1.8oz.

A pound of eye round is $2.99 on sale.
A pound of whole chicken is $.75 on sale.
A dozen large eggs (12*1.8=21.6 oz edible) is $.79 on sale,
or 58 cents/lb.

Using the formula

(price per pound)*(pounds per item)/(Pgrams per item) = (price per Pgram)

A gram of egg protein costs $0.58*(1.8/16)/6.3 = 1.0 cents.
A gram of chicken protein is $1.50*(1.8/16)/15 = 1.1 cents.
A gram of eye-round protein is $2.99*(1.8/16)/15 = 2.2 cents.

The price of chicken protein is way less than I was
expecting. I'll have to actually skin and bone a couple
of chickens and check on that efficiency rating. If it's
closer to 60%, chicken becomes the cheapest option even
when eggs are on sale.

Quoted message said:

If you just get a small piece of meat in
most mouthfuls, you trick yourself into thinking you ate a big chunk
of meat.

And the protein is filling.

Quoted message said:

And buy in bulk if you can. I buy my bulk oatmeal from the local co-
op for about .65/pound versus probably $2/pound in a cardboard tube at
the supermarket.

Yup. Probably the cheapest way to get flour for bread, too.

--Blair

Koko said:

I think I need to try and eat on two dollars a day also. I haven't
been real good about putting away money for the New Mexico cookin'

Good Luck.

Koko

That might be an interesting challenge, for anyone that wants to go
along with it... After I get back to NM this Sunday, I will be able
to see what I can do to meet the challenge....

Can we pool all the money together for the week, and buy stuff out of
that, for the week? I would think it would be easier to stretch the
money that way....

I am trying to save money for same cook-in.... Need to finally buy me
a smoker, and some other gadgets that I have been lusting after.

Christine

Giusi said:

While you will probably get bored from eating leftovers, beans and rice
in their myriad combinations are going to be your cheapest good protein.

Here's the thing about beans:

While they have 20-30% protein by weight when dry, nobody
eats dried beans. When cooked, they weigh twice as much.
Which means they are now 10-15% protein. Lean beef and
chicken come in at 30% or more.

On the other hand, beans cost about 30-80 cents a pound
in quantity:

http://www.usaemergencysupply.com/food/individualitems.htm?category=1&mincategory=3

Chicken, after you bone it, is about $1.50/lb, so beans
need to cost 75 cents/lb or less to be cost-efficient
for protein if they're high-protein beans, and 50 cents
or less if they're low-protein beans.

I'd say they pretty much trade off, on average.

Beans also bring their own carbohydrates. Twice as much
as the protein. Which means that dietarily you don't need
(or want) the rice.

I think I'd have an easier time eating chicken and rice
every day than beans alone.

Quoted message said:

When cooked in their multi-ethnic splendor with added vegetables,
onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, they're good food. Served with
cornbread, darn, I'd come over to eat. Can't think of anything to use
fish sauce with!

Fish-sauce beans-a-roonie!

Quoted message said:

Portion control will play a part, too. I salute your effort, really.
More people should get acquainted with how hard life is for a lot of
people.

Eating the proper amount will save a lot of money.

Most people eat 100% more than they should.

--Blair

In article <[email hidden]>,

Blair P. Houghton said:

Giusi said:

While you will probably get bored from eating leftovers, beans and rice
in their myriad combinations are going to be your cheapest good protein.

Here's the thing about beans:

While they have 20-30% protein by weight when dry, nobody
eats dried beans. When cooked, they weigh twice as much.
Which means they are now 10-15% protein. Lean beef and
chicken come in at 30% or more.

On the other hand, beans cost about 30-80 cents a pound
in quantity:

http://www.usaemergencysupply.com/food/individualitems.htm?category=1&mincateg
ory=3

Chicken, after you bone it, is about $1.50/lb, so beans
need to cost 75 cents/lb or less to be cost-efficient
for protein if they're high-protein beans, and 50 cents
or less if they're low-protein beans.

That US$.75 is for cooked beans, though. The cite above is for dried
beans.

Quoted message said:

I'd say they pretty much trade off, on average.

Beans also bring their own carbohydrates. Twice as much
as the protein. Which means that dietarily you don't need
(or want) the rice.

Uncooked white rice is 7% protein and 80% carbs. Beans are 21% protein
and 62% carbs. So, for people who need protein but not so much rice,
then you are correct.

Quoted message said:

I think I'd have an easier time eating chicken and rice
every day than beans alone.

Eating anything every day isn't healthy, and besides, I wouldn't like
it. Still, for a meatless meal, beans and rice have complementary
proteins. Eating only beans, or eating only rice, as the sole source of
protein will lead to protein deficiency.